Have you ever seen a Drilling? It's a double barreled, side by side, shotgun with a single shot rifle barrel. It is specially designed for a Treibjagdt - a.k.a. a drive hunt. Hunters in Europe will form a line about 80-100 yards apart and people from town will walk, in a line, through the woods pushing game towards the hunters. A Drilling allowed the hunters to be prepared for everything from a pheasant to a red stag, a roe deer to a hare to a wild pig. I just inherited my grandfather's Drilling, from Germany, and it's in the most pristine condition I've ever seen a Drilling! Every hunter that was at my uncle's funeral saw it at the party at one of our hunting camps and they were shocked at the good condition - especially since it's from the late '40s or early '50s. Since I've never seen one in the US, I figured some people might be interested to see it.

It's a Kreighoff Drilling with a Hensoldt scope - Zeiss in West Germany until Zeiss in East Germany was reunited.

Looks like a very high quality piece. Drillings are, or were, very popular in Germany many years ago. It's amazing your Opa's survived WW-II and the post-war period - U.S. occupational forces (Army) wanted to confiscate my father-in-law's Diana air rifle (.177 caliber), and he had to break the stock over a curb to render it undesirable to them (he later repaired the stock with medical tape and kept it that way until his death). In the early days of WW-II, they packed drillings in the survival kits of Luftwaffe aircraft, and they were prized targets of scavengers. Just curious, but what gauge are the shotgun barrels, and what caliber is the rifle barrel? Also, what is the power of the scope, and what kind of reticle does it have - I would imagine either a German #1 or #4, but was just wondering.

Congratulations on your inheritance, and my condolences on the loss of your grandfather.

Curious, how would one shoot birds/rabbits with a scope on it? Or maybe your grandfather had it set up as a large-game-only gun (i.e., shoot buckshot or slugs out of the shotgun barrels)? Very cool either way - I've seen combo .410 shotgun / .22 rifle before but this is something special.

Curious, how would one shoot birds/rabbits with a scope on it? Or maybe your grandfather had it set up as a large-game-only gun (i.e., shoot buckshot or slugs out of the shotgun barrels)? Very cool either way - I've seen combo .410 shotgun / .22 rifle before but this is something special.

If I'm not mistaken, drillings with scopes usually had low powered scopes and quick detach mounts so you can quickly take the scope off/on and it would still hold its zero.

Looks like a very high quality piece. Drillings are, or were, very popular in Germany many years ago. It's amazing your Opa's survived WW-II and the post-war period - U.S. occupational forces (Army) wanted to confiscate my father-in-law's Diana air rifle (.177 caliber), and he had to break the stock over a curb to render it undesirable to them (he later repaired the stock with medical tape and kept it that way until his death). In the early days of WW-II, they packed drillings in the survival kits of Luftwaffe aircraft, and they were prized targets of scavengers. Just curious, but what gauge are the shotgun barrels, and what caliber is the rifle barrel? Also, what is the power of the scope, and what kind of reticle does it have - I would imagine either a German #1 or #4, but was just wondering.

Congratulations on your inheritance, and my condolences on the loss of your grandfather.

Regards,

Dave

Thanks Dave. I think he purchased the Drilling after the war but I'm not 100% certain. He took all of his guns and wrapped them in grease and buried them during the early days of the war, before he was sent to the Russian front. They remained buried until it was safe for him to pull them out. It was a couple years after the war before he was sure the US forces wouldn't confiscate them. He kept one buried shallow that he used for hunting to provide meat for the family. Luckily he ran a paper mill before and after the war and he was able to work with the US Army; and that got him some dispensations.

It's a 16ga with a 7x57R and I think it's a 1.5-6x Hensoldt scope with a #1 reticle. It's very cool.

To continue the legacy, it would be neat to use it in Texas in the manner it was built for. Take it out for a morning deer hunt as a rifle, then go out in the afternoon for a dove or duck hunt.

Might just do something like that. Great idea! If it wasn't so hard to take guns back and forth to Germany, I'd take it over for a treibjagd one day. But it's just easier to borrow guns from family.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeetDown

Curious, how would one shoot birds/rabbits with a scope on it? Or maybe your grandfather had it set up as a large-game-only gun (i.e., shoot buckshot or slugs out of the shotgun barrels)? Very cool either way - I've seen combo .410 shotgun / .22 rifle before but this is something special.

It's very hard to shoot a flying bird with it but on a treibjagd the primary goal isn't birds. The shot shell is mostly for hare and fox; or maybe a pheasant on the ground.

Brother, there are a lot of guns that I might be willing to give you a "maybe" on, but this one will be pried from my cold dead fingers. I've been waiting for this since I was a little kid - longer than you've been alive! Lol!

When you visit some time, maybe we'll shoot it. I'm hoping it might be here by Christmas.

Brother, there are a lot of guns that I might be willing to give you a "maybe" on, but this one will be pried from my cold dead fingers. I've been waiting for this since I was a little kid - longer than you've been alive! Lol!

When you visit some time, maybe we'll shoot it. I'm hoping it might be here by Christmas.

Had a Savage MDL 24 in 20guage and 30-30. Pond hunted mainly. Pigs come in for a drink or a Wood Duck landing I had it. One time had a covey of Quail come in to bath etc. Think I killed 8 with one shot.......

I've never seen one before. That thing is supercool. The fact that it's in fantastic condition, that it was your grandfather's, and has that particular history is a really amazing combination. I would imagine that it's worth a pretty good bit on the open market. But, priceless to you. I know you have no plans of realeasing. It makes me happy to hear that you are keeping it. So many folks will take a piece of their family's history and cash it in for the almighty dollar. Good for you. Sorry for the passing of your grandfather.

Thanks Dave. I think he purchased the Drilling after the war but I'm not 100% certain. He took all of his guns and wrapped them in grease and buried them during the early days of the war, before he was sent to the Russian front. They remained buried until it was safe for him to pull them out. It was a couple years after the war before he was sure the US forces wouldn't confiscate them. He kept one buried shallow that he used for hunting to provide meat for the family. Luckily he ran a paper mill before and after the war and he was able to work with the US Army; and that got him some dispensations.

It's a 16ga with a 7x57R and I think it's a 1.5-6x Hensoldt scope with a #1 reticle. It's very cool.

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Ach, der lieber Augustin! I forgot to mention that a drilling literally means "triplet" in German ("drei" means "three").

Oh, and Ach, der lieber Augustin is a popular old German children's song (literally "Oh you dear Augustin"). Thankfully, my wife is a German gal and my official German translator.

To clarify, it was my uncle that just passed - my grandfather passed about 30 years ago and my uncle got it with instructions that it passed to me, when he died. He never married or had any kids so I was like a son to him and he was like a 2nd father to me.

Sure wish my Opa would have lived another 30 years, though - that would have been awesome! I found some incredible pictures of him on this trip. He, like many people, was forced into military service. As the head of a paper company (prior to the war) he was made an officer and served in a tank unit on the Russian front. He was captured and sent to a prison camp in Siberia. He escaped the camp and walked all the way back to his home in Germany; traveling only at night. He made it home, to my Oma and my mother and my uncle, right at the end of the war. He was a great guy that was always a joker and an entertainer - the life of every party and always the last one to leave! Lol! Lots of memories.

It was always a little difficult growing up, being half American and half German. At that time, WWII wasn't that far gone and there were lots of people that had lost family during the war. There was still quite a bit of animosity towards both Germany and Japan. Didn't matter to some that my American side of the family had also lost lots of people and that Dwight Eisenhower was one of my American Grandfather's 2 best friends and a member of his cabinet. That was just the way it was back then. It was a great time to grow up, though, IMO; and my 2 grandfathers were close friends and my HEROES!

Here's some pix of of my Opa:

Opa teaching men how to shoot. He was a terrific shot!

Opa with a big bear. The rug from this bear is in Germany but it seems that it's impossible to bring it to the US because of a paperwork nightmare. Very very sad. It's HUGE brown bear for Europe. Ginormous!

Opa with a really terrific red stag. Check out the mass! That's 100% native and 40 years before high protein feed and high fences.

Just Opa

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiplashTX

Just drooled all over my keyboard even though I'm not a Hensoldt fan. Absolutely gorgeous rifle. Is that double set triggers or barrel selector?

Honestly, I'm not sure. Lol. I didn't have time to shoot it while I was there; and it really hasn't gotten used much, obviously. When I was over there hunting I used other guns since it was so specialized and such a family treasure. I'm guessing that it's a barrel selector but there's no telling. There's a switch on the side, though. So, it could be that the triggers are each assigned a shotgun barrel and then, when the switch is thrown, the triggers become a double set for the rifle. I'm just not sure.

Now you have me intrigued! Lol! Leave it to one of my OSR brothers to think of that. I'm going to have to do some asking around to see what I can find out. When I do, I'll report back. GREAT question!